Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Preparations on for 2006 floral carnival

D. Radhakrishnan

`The process of transplanting seedlings from nurseries to pots has begun'

SPRUCED UP: Weeds being removed from a pond inside the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam on Saturday. - Photo: D. Radhakrishnan

Udhagamandalam: The inflow of tourists to this hill station during the summer of 2006 is expected to be good notwithstanding the recent unprecedented precipitation in various parts of the State and the mounting complaints about the poor civic amenities here.

In order to give the visitors a visual treat, organisers of the annual floral carnival at the Government Botanical Garden have started making elaborate preparations.

Ponds cleaned

The cleaning the ten ponds in various parts of the garden was almost over, Manager of the garden N. Mani told The Hindu here on Saturday.

Since all of them were covered with Nymphaea (water lilies), the other flowers could not be seen.

The process of transplanting seedlings from nurseries to the pots commenced on Wednesday. In a phased manner flowers such as Salvia (three varieties), Penstemon and Delphinium would be grown in about 10,000 pots, Mr. Mani said.

Green houses

Though the unusually prolonged wet spell had played havoc with the sowing and planting schedule, it was set right thanks to the healthy seedlings raised for the first time in the green houses in controlled conditions.

Since it would take a few months for the flowers in the beds to bloom, steps were initiated to make the glasshouse in the lower part of the garden and the conservatory in the upper part more attractive.

Varieties

In keeping with this, about 600 pots with liliums would be added to the collection in the two places within a week. A few varieties of schizanthus would also find a place.

Mr. Mani said that the number of varieties planted for the coming summer would be more. Among them would be dianthes, phlox, stock, nimesia, zinnia and petunia.

With the town beginning to experience frost, adequate measures were taken to protect the young plants.

Since pop-up sprinklers were used to maintain the lawns they were wearing a verdant look, he added.

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Preparations on for 2006 floral carnival

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